In my experience, multi-family housing can be optimal for both investors and renters by offering a tiered approach to different levels of income - small apartments, large apartments, townhome apartments, and high-end dwellings.Most renters aspire to have diversity in their community and in their lives.

Some of my investors like to diversity across other asset classes that might have higher risk, but can offer a higher return, or have a shorter maturity. 

You will love the diverse community and all the resources.

If you are using a local property management company I think it might be less important and you can benefit from the diversity of being in different markets.

It seems like I get shared ownership in a diverse portfolio of multiple properties.

San Antonio has a fairly diverse economy, I am surprised we are 2nd lowest though on unemployment.

I would recommend Philadelphia Pennsylvania.Large city catering diverse economic base.Low inventory (that translates into strong rental and home buying demand.)Many investors from California NY and elsewhere are already finding good profitable deals here both buy and hold as well as flips.Property that is available at 50k and with renovations from 15k (cosmetic play) to 50k (full renovations)are obtainable with persistence.

Leeds has a diverse mixture of properties, from low-end to high-end.Here is a recent Birmingham Business Journal cover story about areas primed for growth:http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/print-editio...

My end goal is to have as diverse of a portfolio as possible and possibly supplement the income of my current job.I have been reading about how fixing and flipping is a JOB.

From initial analysis it seems that the property worked better as a single family home than a small multifamily.it is truly incredible the diversity that you see in silverlake these days, one morning I was checking on  progress and stopped at Starbucks...